CN107431861A - Distributed air-defense for adaptive audio rendering system - Google Patents

Abstract

Embodiments are described for a hybrid amplifier architecture that separates a single audio amplifier stage from a power supply and a simple two- or three-conductor bus that carries both power and audio signals to multiple speakers for playback of adaptive audio content in extended surround sound environments including surround speakers and overhead speakers or for use in professional live sound applications and/or distributed audio systems. The control unit generates digital audio and power and transmits both simultaneously over the bus to the individual speaker units associated with each speaker. The speaker units restore power and the channel assignments are decoded to route the audio to the appropriate speakers.

Description

Distributed Amplification for Adaptive Audio Rendering Systems

Cross References to Related Applications

This application claims priority to US Provisional Patent Application No. 62/142,384, filed April 2, 2015, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

technical field

One or more implementations relate generally to audio signal processing, and more particularly to a distributed amplification and loudspeaker system for playback of multi-channel audio.

Background technique

The introduction of digital cinema and the development of true three-dimensional ("3D") or virtual 3D content have created new sound standards, such as merging multiple channels of audio to allow greater creativity for content creators and more envelopment for audiences. (enveloping) and real listening experience. As a means for distributing spatial audio, extending beyond traditional loudspeaker-fed and channel-based audio is critical, and there has been significant interest in model-based audio descriptions that allow listeners to select Expect playback configurations where audio is rendered specifically for their chosen configuration. The spatial representation of sound utilizes audio objects, which are audio signals with associated parameterized source descriptions of apparent source location (eg, 3D coordinates), apparent source width, and other parameters. Further advances include the next-generation spatial audio (also known as "adaptive audio") format that has been developed, which includes a mix of audio objects and traditional channel-based speaker feeds, along with positional metadata for the audio objects. In a spatial audio decoder, channels are sent directly to their associated speakers, or downmixed to an existing set of speakers, and audio objects are rendered by the decoder in a flexible (adaptive) way. A parametric source description (such as a position trajectory in 3D space) associated with each object is taken as input, together with the number and position of loudspeakers connected to the decoder. The renderer then utilizes certain algorithms, such as panning laws, to distribute the audio associated with each object across an attached set of speakers ("object-based audio"). The creative spatial intent of each object is thus best represented by listening to the specific loudspeaker configuration present in the room.

With the introduction of adaptive audio systems, the number of amplifier channels required has greatly increased (e.g., up to 32 or more channels), necessitating the installation of new amplifiers and/or higher channel counts amplifier. Additionally, because each surround speaker requires its own amplified channel, upgrading the sound system in an existing theater requires extensive modifications (eg, removing the parallel combination of speakers in favor of point-to-point single cabling). Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a typical amplification method for multi-channel applications using prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, a system with nine channels 102 and nine individual loudspeakers or speaker groups 108 requires nine individual amplifiers 104, nine individual cable runs 106, and five or More power supplies (inside the two-channel amplifier). Such a system represents a typical amplifier-speaker arrangement as might be found in a modern movie theater playing surround sound audio, and illustrates the amount of hardware and infrastructure currently used in such a system. Changing the amplification and cabling infrastructure to accommodate a larger than currently supported topography within a theater is a costly endeavor, and replacing perfectly functioning existing audio amplifiers and cabling is not an upgrade to accommodate newer audio formats efficient method. In many cases, audio amplifiers used in mid-range to large-scale surround sound environments are good devices with powerful output power, but just don't have enough channels to support complex multi-channel systems such as the Dolby Atomas system .

What is therefore needed is an intelligent audio interface system that provides flexible, cost-effective power distribution while also adding features seen in advanced audio playback applications. What is further needed is a system that provides an efficient upgrade path for playback of premium audio content in both home and professional listening environments with minimal installation and retrofit costs.

The subject matter discussed in the Background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely because it is mentioned in the Background section. Similarly, issues mentioned in the Background section or in connection with the subject matter of the Background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which may themselves be inventions. Dolby, Dolby Digital Plus, and Atmos are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation.

Contents of the invention

Embodiments are directed to a system having a power supply outputting power, a first digital data transceiver, a unified transmission bus, and an additional digital data transceiver, the first digital data transceiver outputs multi-channel digital data to the power supply, and also output to the output of the power supply, the unified transmission bus couples the output of the power supply to a plurality of speakers and transmits power and multi-channel digital data to the plurality of speakers, an additional digital data transceiver is associated with each of the plurality of speakers , and configured to restore power to drive an associated speaker and transmit the appropriate channels of multi-channel digital data to the associated speaker. The input of the first digital transceiver may include multi-channel digital audio, and the first digital transceiver is configured to synchronize the power and the multi-channel digital audio and condition the power and the multi-channel digital audio to ensure The best timing, amplitude and phase characteristics of the data transmitted by the bus. The unified transmission bus includes a single multiconductor cable having two or three conductors, and wherein, where the multiconductor cable includes three conductors, the third conductor includes an earth ground. Each additional digital data transceiver, which may be associated with a single speaker (i.e., located near or within the loudspeaker), includes a power recovery circuit comprising a low impedance speaker coupled to a capacitive storage element and a dedicated digital data transceiver driver, a dedicated digital data transceiver configured to operate in a transmit or receive mode and configured to decode the channel assignments provided in the multi-channel digital data and convert the appropriate multi-channel digital data based on the decoded channel assignments The data is modulated to the associated speakers so that different source content can be played back through each of the plurality of speakers. Power may be encoded within a power signal audio band between 0 (DC) and 20 kHz, and digital audio data may be encoded within a digital audio transmission band between 1 MHz and 100 MHz, but embodiments are not limited thereto. In applications using non-standard audio amplifiers, power may also be delivered in a power delivery band up to several hundreds or hundreds of kHz (eg, 0 (DC) to 500 kHz). The power supply and each additional digital data transceiver may be coupled via a unified transmission bus using a standardized power line communication interface including at least one of IEEE 1901 or G.hn protocols or other similar protocols. The multi-channel digital data may be transmitted using Internet Protocol (IP) transport, and wherein the first digital data transceiver includes an IP interface for receiving the IP-based streaming audio data, and wherein the IP-based streaming audio data is at least Adaptive audio content with channel-based audio and object-based audio is included in part. In an embodiment, at least some of the plurality of speakers comprise a surround sound audio system that plays back audio signals assigned to discrete channels according to a surround sound format, and at least some of the plurality of speakers comprise multi-driver speakers, and are associated with the plurality of An additional digital data transceiver associated with the driver speaker includes a bi-amplification circuit that transmits a first portion of the appropriate channel to the first driver of the multi-driver speaker and a second portion of the appropriate channel to the multi-driver speaker the second drive.

Embodiments are further directed to a method of encoding multi-channel digital data to be transmitted in a first transmission band and power to be transmitted in a second transmission band, combining the digital data and power over a single transmission bus transmission to a plurality of speakers, and at each of the plurality of speakers, power is restored to drive the speaker, and the data is decoded to play back a particular channel of the multi-channel digital data through the speaker such that different source content is played back through each of the plurality of speakers. The multi-channel digital content includes digital audio content, and the method further includes synchronizing and adjusting power and digital audio to ensure optimal timing, amplitude and phase characteristics of data transmitted over the single transmission bus. The first transmission band may include a power signal audio band between 0 (DC) and 20 kHz or higher (eg, hundreds of kHz), and the second transmission band may include a digital audio transmission band between 10 MHz and 100 MHz. The method may further include: transmitting the digital audio over a single transmission bus using an Internet Protocol (IP) communication system, and transmitting over a single transmission bus using a standardized power line communication interface (including at least one of IEEE 1901 or G.hn protocols or similar protocols) power. The digital audio may include, at least in part, adaptive audio content having channel-based audio and object-based audio, and wherein at least some of the plurality of speakers may include surround speakers that play back audio assigned to the discrete channels according to a surround sound format. Sound audio system. The method further includes receiving analog audio data and converting the analog audio data to digital audio content by an analog-to-digital component. A single transmission bus may include a multi-conductor cable having two or three conductors, and wherein, where the multi-conductor cable includes three conductors, the third conductor may include ground.

Embodiments are still further directed to an apparatus comprising: a power supply outputting power encoded within a first transmission band of a transmission spectrum; and a first digital data transceiver to be encoded within a second transmission band of the transmission spectrum The multi-channel digital data output to the input of the power supply and the output of the power supply, the output of the power supply is configured to be coupled to a unified transmission bus that provides power and multi-channel digital data to multiple speakers, wherein each speaker is connected to a corresponding A digital data receiver is associated with the digital data receiver configured to recover power to drive the associated speaker and transmit the appropriate channel of the multi-channel digital data to the associated speaker. The input of the first digital transceiver includes multi-channel digital audio, and the first digital transceiver is configured to synchronize the power and the multi-channel digital audio and regulate the power and the multi-channel digital audio to ensure data transmission over the unified transmission bus The best timing, amplitude and phase characteristics. The digital audio may include, at least in part, adaptive audio content having channel-based audio and object-based audio, and wherein at least some of the plurality of speakers include surround speakers that play back audio assigned to the discrete channels according to a surround sound format. Sound audio system.

Embodiments are further directed to an apparatus comprising: an assembly providing an association with a respective loudspeaker; a power recovery circuit configured to receive power encoded in a first frequency band and transmitted over a unified transmission bus, and comprising coupling to a capacitor a low-impedance speaker driver for the storage element, a unified transmission bus that transmits both audio and data over the same conductors; and a dedicated digital data transceiver that is switchable between transmit and receive modes and is configured to receive multi-channel digital data And decoding the channel assignments provided in the multi-channel digital data and modulating the appropriate multi-channel digital data to corresponding speakers based on the decoded channel assignments, so that different source content can be transmitted through the speakers in the speaker array including the corresponding speakers Each speaker is played back. Components include at least one tightly coupled connection, built-in circuitry, and/or short transmission links. The device may further include interfaces to the power supply and the first digital data transceiver, where the power output from the power supply is output by the first digital data transceiver through a unified transmission bus. The multi-channel digital data may include digital audio at least in part including adaptive audio content having channel-based audio and object-based audio, and wherein at least some of the speakers of the speaker array include A surround sound audio system that plays back audio that is assigned to discrete channels.

Embodiments are still further directed to a transmission bus comprising: an interface to a transceiver providing power and digital audio data; a pair of conductors within an integral sheath, wherein the conductors provide power and digital audio data Simultaneous transmission to a plurality of loudspeakers, wherein the digital audio data includes adaptive audio content having audio components to be individually played back on different loudspeakers; and a plurality of taps each provided to the A separate link for each loudspeaker in multiple loudspeakers together. Power may be encoded in a first frequency band and digital audio data encoded in a second frequency band, and each of the plurality of loudspeakers is associated with a speaker unit that restores power and provides audio Decoding is done to drive the associated speaker with the appropriate audio signal.

Description of drawings

In the following figures, like reference numerals are used to designate like elements. Although the following figures depict various examples, one or more implementations are not limited to the examples depicted in the figures.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a typical amplification method for a multi-channel application using the prior art.

Figure 2 illustrates a distributed amplification system according to some embodiments.

Figure 3 illustrates components of a control and speaker unit for the distributed amplification system of Figure 2, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 4 shows the separation of power and audio signals by frequency bands according to an embodiment.

Figure 5 shows a bi-amplified embodiment where a loudspeaker unit drives multiple drivers or loudspeaker elements.

6 illustrates example speaker placement in an adaptive audio surround system (eg, 9.1 surround) utilizing a distributed amplification system.

detailed description

Systems and methods are described for a hybrid amplification architecture that separates a single audio amplifier stage from a power supply and a simple two- or three-conductor bus that separates power and audio signals or to multiple daisy chained speakers for playback of adaptive audio content in an extended surround sound environment including surround speakers and overhead speakers.

Aspects of one or more embodiments described herein may be implemented in an audio or audio-visual system that processes source audio information in a sound mixing, rendering, and playback system that mixes , rendering and playback systems include one or more computers or processing devices that execute software instructions. Any of the described embodiments may be used alone, or with each other in any combination. While the various embodiments may be motivated by various deficiencies of the prior art that may be discussed or suggested at one or more places in this specification, the embodiments do not necessarily address any of these deficiencies. In other words, different embodiments may address different deficiencies that may be discussed in this specification. Some embodiments may only partially address some or only one of the deficiencies that may be discussed in this specification, and some embodiments may not address any of these deficiencies.

For the purposes of this description, the following terms have associated meanings: the term "channel" means the audio signal plus metadata in which position is encoded as a channel identifier (e.g. front left or surround right); "Channel-based audio" is audio formatted for playback through a predefined set of speaker zones (eg, 5.1, 7.1, etc.) with associated nominal positioning; the terms "object" or "object-based audio " means one or more audio channels with a parametric source description such as apparent source position (e.g., 3D coordinates), apparent source width, etc.; "adaptive audio" means channel-based and/or Object-based audio signal plus metadata that renders the audio signal based on the playback environment using an audio stream plus metadata where position is encoded as a 3D position in space; the term "adaptive streaming" refers to the following audio types : The audio type can change adaptively (e.g., from channel-based to object-based, or back again) and is common for online streaming applications, where the audio must be formatted according to Varying bandwidth-constrained scaling (i.e., since object audio tends to occur at higher data rates, the fallback in lower bandwidth conditions is typically channel-based audio); and "listening environment" means any open , a partially enclosed or fully enclosed area, such as a room that can be used to play back audio content alone or with video or other content, and can be embodied in homes, theaters, theaters, auditoriums, studios, game consoles, etc. .

Figure 2 illustrates a distributed amplification system according to some embodiments. The system 200 of FIG. 2 is a multi-channel speaker system having any number (N) of speakers 208 . Instead of having one amplifier and nominally one power supply (or half of a power supply) and separate dedicated cabling for each speaker channel, system 200 features one main amplifier 202, one cabling path ("bus") 206, and one power supply 204 for all N speaker channels 210. To achieve this simplification in the power and signal distribution infrastructure, each speaker channel has associated with it a dedicated speaker unit 208 that receives and recovers the power and audio signals generated by the control unit 202 . The number N of channels may be any practical number of channels determined by system requirements. N could be 7 or 9 for a standard surround sound setup, and on the order of 16 or 24 channels or more for a full Atmos type system with speakers at height. In addition to surround sound formats, embodiments may also be configured for use within professional live sound applications and/or distributed audio systems.

The architecture of system 200 allows audio power and signal to be distributed to multiple loudspeakers without the use of high channel count amplifiers and multiple point-to-point cables, thereby reducing the number of audio power amplifier channels and separate loudspeakers The number of cables, while still allowing each loudspeaker to have an independent driver (ie, a separate audio signal present at each loudspeaker). Amplifier 204 is a power supply that may be implemented as an optimized or standard audio amplifier to transmit power signals over bus 206 . The control unit 202 includes an N-channel digital audio transceiver and an audio signal generator, and the audio signal generator adds digital audio signals to the same bus cable. Digital audio transceiver 202 transmits multiple digital audio streams in the presence of a power signal generated by audio amplifier 204 . These two signal streams (power and data) are transmitted simultaneously over bus 206 and received by small electronic speaker units 208 built into (or closely coupled to) each microphone 210 . The loudspeaker unit restores power, receives the digital audio stream, and drives the loudspeaker with the selected signal. In one embodiment, bus cable 206 is a single standard two-conductor speaker cable of standard gauge (e.g., 10-20 gauge) and can be used to transfer multiple channels of digital audio and appropriate power to separate loudspeakers connected to the same two-conductor cable. That is, many speakers can be wired in a daisy-chain or parallel fashion while still allowing independent channels of audio to be played at each speaker (ie, different signal and volume). The bus cable may be implemented as a simple two-conductor speaker cable or a three-conductor cable (such as an AC power cable where one conductor is ground), or any other similar simple conductor cable. Instead of traditional speaker cables (ie standard wire cables), solid core Romex (typical AC wiring cables) cables can be used.

The power supply 204 can be implemented as a standard power amplifier. Alternatively, it can be implemented as a highly optimized baseband AC or DC power supply, similar to an audio amplifier, but with much higher power efficiency and power throughput. For this embodiment, the system will be highly optimized for maximum power transfer, minimum power loss, and minimum cost.

Loudspeaker 210 may represent a single driver or transducer within a single enclosure (cabinet), or a multi-driver loudspeaker with different transducers (e.g., woofer, midrange, tweeter) handling different audio components speakers, or speaker arrays. In an embodiment, the speaker unit 208 may also include additional circuitry to drive each speaker assembly independently in a bi-amp system. Both the control unit and each speaker unit include a transceiver stage that allows bidirectional data flow between the control unit's digital audio transceiver and the plurality of speakers residing on the bus. Therefore, other pieces of information can travel to and from the loudspeaker. For example, a loudspeaker can report telemetry data (e.g., down angle, temperature, etc.), and/or setting information can be sent to individual speakers (e.g., volume control, LED lighting effect control, pan-tilt angle adjustment, etc.). In systems utilizing bi-amplification within the speaker, the derivation of two (or more) audio signals can be performed by sending a single audio stream to the speaker unit 208, where the speaker unit employs signal processing to derive two audio signals from a single input stream. (or more) audio signals. Alternatively, the control unit 202 may send multiple streams directly to a single amplification stage within the speaker unit 208 . An alternative embodiment of this implementation is shown and described below with reference to FIG. 5 .

Figure 3 illustrates components of a control and speaker unit for the distributed amplification system of Figure 2, according to some embodiments. In an embodiment, the power supply 304 includes a standard audio amplifier that provides power to other distributed audio output stages. This helps achieve the efficiency goals of component reuse by eliminating one of the most costly drivers in any audio amplifier design - the power supply. Audio power amplifiers are typically designed to feed into one or more AC-DC power supplies in low-impedance, transistorized output stages. Most audio amplifiers are designed as two- to four-channel devices, where there is a singular power supply (AC/DC off-line supply) fanning out to power the output stage. The architecture of system 300 subdivides the audio amplification process such that the power supply is physically separate from individual output stages and is chosen such that it efficiently supplies AC excitation to power multiple output stages. The power supply can thus be implemented as a standard audio amplifier developing a controlled audio band AC waveform and providing regulatory compliance (eg, NRTL, CE, FCC, safety isolation, etc.).

For the embodiment of FIG. 3 , the modulated input waveform applied to the mains audio amplifier is generated by an audio signal generator in the control unit 302 . Since the output of the power amplifier is only used to distribute power to the various output stages, no significant fidelity or spectral-purity requirements are imposed on the power amplifier. Similar to the signal present on a typical AC feed line (120Vrms, 60Hz), the mains audio amplifier will generate an AC waveform optimized for powering downstream distributed audio output stages. This allows an existing audio amplifier to act as a power source for a distributed array of output stages, and a single cable 306 can power multiple output stages 310 . As with any parallel power distribution system, the total power loss will have to be properly determined and managed so that the power amplifier and wiring can properly deliver the power required by the sum of all distributed output stages connected to the line. In cases where more power is required or a larger number of paralleled output stages are attached to the line, the power amplifier can be bridged or paralleled with similar amplifiers. An example power supply could be an 800W cinema grade amplifier (eg, Crown DSi2000) delivering 800W per channel into 4 ohms or 1000W per channel into 2 ohms, or any similarly rated amplifier.

For the embodiment of Fig. 3, the control unit 302 generates digital audio signals comprising adaptive audio having both channel-based and object-based audio components. The adaptive audio interface and processor provide signals to the audio signal generator of the excitation power supply 304 . The digital audio transmitter 303 of the control unit 302 outputs the digital audio signal directly to the output of the power supply so that both the power and the digital audio signal are carried on the bus cable 306 . The control unit also includes appropriate circuitry to regulate power and data to ensure they are properly transmitted over the bus in terms of timing, amplitude and phase. Although the embodiments are shown with respect to an adaptive audio application, it should be noted that any suitable audio format may be used, and depending on the type of interface provided in the control unit 302, the input audio may be straight digital audio, Mixed audio, pure channel-based audio, pure object-based audio, and more. In the case of providing analog audio, the system may include an integrated or separate analog-to-digital converter to provide the digital audio signal required to drive the power supply 304 and to provide digital audio input to the bus cable 306 . In an embodiment, the control unit 302 outputs digital data that is primarily to be coupled into the output of the power supply, and the input of the power supply is stimulated with an analog audio band modulated signal (ie sine wave, pink noise, total audio signal, etc.). Thus, digital data is primarily routed/coupled to the output of the power supply, while the input of the power supply can be controlled via digital or analog techniques.

In embodiments where the power supply 304 includes a standard or other type of amplifier, the system 300 can be configured to create a power excitation signal into the amplifier, and also have a line connected to the amplifier's output to inject a digital data stream into the speaker wires or bus cable 306. The digital data stream wires can also be used as sense lines for the controller through A/D (analog/digital) circuitry. Controller 302 may then compare the input and output signals from the corresponding amplifier channels. This allows additional features to be implemented in software (or an equivalent circuit), such as gain modification adjustment (for example, if the user changes the amplifier gain, the system can adjust the input signal to compensate), fault monitoring for distortion, fault monitoring for presence signals Monitoring, automated system configuration to optimize gain structure, and other similar functions. For fault monitoring applications, if a fault is found, the system can be configured to log the fault, send a notification of the fault over a connected network (e.g., the Internet), and/or send an audible or visual warning, such as by sounding an alarm tone, or by A pulse of the power signal is sent to the corresponding channel to flash the amplifier light on the faulty amplifier channel(s).

In an embodiment, the bus cable 306 linking the control unit 302 to each of the speaker units 308 is a single two-conductor speaker cable (or three-conductor cable or similar). Data is transferred over the bus using the Internet Protocol (IP) protocol, but other protocols are also possible. A standard power line communication format is used to provide sufficient bandwidth and channel separation to allow channelized audio information produced by the control unit to be delivered to the output stage. Examples of standard powerline communication protocols include IEEE 1901 (HomePlug AV 1.1) and G.hn protocols. It should be noted that embodiments are not limited thereto and other standardized protocols or proprietary techniques for transporting digital audio information over power cabling to deliver independent audio streams to distributed output stages are also possible.

Power signals and digital audio signals travel over the same conductors and are encoded in different bands of the spectrum. Fig. 4 shows the separation of power and audio signals by frequency bands according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, as an example, the power component 402 is relegated to a relatively low frequency band between 0 (DC) and 20 kHz, while the digital data component 404 is carried in a band extending between 1 MHz and 100 MHz. , but the embodiment is not limited thereto. It should be noted that in applications using non-standard audio amplifiers, power may also be transferred in a power transfer band up to a few hundred or hundreds of kHz (eg, 0 (DC) to 500 kHz). Similarly, notwithstanding Figure 4, the transmission band frequency may span other frequency ranges, such as 1-100 MHz. In some cases, depending on the capabilities of components such as the PLC (Programmable Logic Chip) used, data transmission may be performed at frequencies higher than 100 MHz.

Referring to FIG. 3 with respect to FIG. 4 , the first digital data transceiver 303 generates a second transmission strip 404 and couples the second transmission strip to the output of the power supply. Instead, the input to the power supply usually includes baseband audio modulation that is not in the mid/high band (1-100MHz).

With further reference to FIG. 3 , the power and audio signals transmitted by the bus 306 are received by a number N of speaker units 310 . Each speaker unit 308 includes a digital audio transceiver (typically set in receive mode) 307, a power recovery circuit 309 and an output stage 311 to drive the associated speaker. The digital audio receiver decodes the audio signal and passes the appropriate channel (or object) audio to an output stage for driving connected speakers 310 . A digital audio receiver may be more generally referred to as a digital audio transceiver, since it may be configured to transmit information back to the control unit 302 . In an embodiment, the digital audio transceiver 307 may be configured to transmit status information (eg, thermal, voltage, current, impedance, down angle, etc.) back to the control unit. Transmission protocols (eg, 1901 and G.hn) and PLC components typically support two-way communication in the data link between speaker unit 308 and control unit 302 . For the two-way data link case, the data transmitter 303 in the control unit 302 is also more generally indicated as a transceiver, rather than just a transmitter. Components 303 and 307 may each be configured to operate in both or either transmit/receive mode depending on the data link configuration and communication direction. Thus, the system can be configured for full-duplex mode (two-way communication), or it can be set for half-duplex operation (one-way communication), so switching operations for transceivers can be discrete operations (half-duplex case), or it can be automatic operation (full duplex case).

One or more sensors may also be provided and associated with the speaker unit to collect status information such as the above listed operating conditions and characteristics (thermal, voltage, current, impedance, down angle, etc.) and other relevant characteristics.

The speaker unit 308 may be implemented as a small circuit embedded or built into a cabinet enclosing the associated speaker, or it may be implemented as a module or assembly closely coupled to the speaker. In an embodiment, the power recovery circuit of the speaker unit comprises a low impedance speaker driver coupled to the capacitive storage element. Speaker drivers allow a speaker unit to provide additional or supplemental power to an incoming audio signal to provide a certain level of boost or gain. Coupling a capacitive storage element with a low impedance speaker driver allows the speaker unit to capture and store energy from the power supply, allowing some level of boost or gain in the output voltage as desired. This represents an "energy harvesting" implementation that allows the system to drive the connected loudspeaker to a voltage level that meets or exceeds the voltage swing of the incoming power signal.

The digital audio transceiver includes decoding circuitry that decodes the channel assignments provided in the multi-channel digital data and modulates the digital data to associated speakers based on the decoded channel assignments so that different source content can be heard through the Each of the N speakers plays back.

Each loudspeaker unit constitutes the "smart" piece of electronics at each loudspeaker, and a transceiver interface between the control unit and each loudspeaker unit establishes a two-way digital communication channel so that each cabinet can digitally report on the Useful pieces of telemetry for system commissioning, maintenance, and monitoring. Operational parameters include aspects such as down angle, localization, excursion, and the like. Additionally, with onboard power supplies and stabilized power supplies for all loudspeakers, the loudspeakers can incorporate I/O devices such as LEDs, effect lighting, and servo motor control for pan-tilt automation as needed. Per-loudspeaker performance/fault monitoring and loudspeaker telemetry awareness (eg, down angle, localization, etc.) are also possible features. Because the output stage features local capacitive bulk storage, each channel has an increased level of isolation from adjacent channels. This is beneficial for reducing amplifier cross-talk and inter-dynamic interference, and complements having Capacitive mass storage offers the advantage of energy harvesting features.

As noted above, embodiments may include bi-amplified implementations in which a small electronics assembly located at the amplifier or speaker unit 208 independently drives two or more speaker components (e.g., woofer, midrange speaker or tweeter, etc.). In this embodiment the speaker unit is designed with two output drivers which allow independent audio signals to be driven to both the woofer and tweeter, or both the tweeter and midrange, or to be driven by the speaker unit Any other combination of drives driven. Two (or three or more) speakers produce audio in different frequency ranges (eg, low-woofer and high-tweeter). The derivation of the high and low frequency input signals can be performed in the speaker unit (eg analog or digital filtering), or the control unit 202 can implement filters and use the two digital audio streams via the power/data bus. In general, there are several advantages to this configuration that will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art of loudspeaker design, but they are typically used with two-channel amplifiers with separate cabling (e.g., 4-conductor 2HF, 2LF), or with Power amplifier with internal AC power supply, audio input and two-channel amplifier. Using the concept of a shared common power/data bus as described herein allows relatively simple implementation of bi-amplified speakers.

Figure 5 shows an embodiment where the speaker unit drives two different speakers in a bi-amp configuration. For the embodiment of FIG. 5, the speaker unit 502 includes a filter function 504 that derives or generates audio at different frequency ranges as appropriate to drive the speakers 510 and 512, which may be implemented as tweeters/woofers Speaker pairs, tweeter/midrange speaker pairs, or any other suitable pair (or array) of different speakers. Each speaker may be coupled to its own dedicated driver/amplifier circuit 506/508, or a unified amplifier may be provided for both speakers. It should be noted that the filter function or component 504 could be included as part of the speaker unit or control unit, but in Fig. 5 it is shown as part of the speaker unit. Thus, in an embodiment, a loudspeaker may comprise a multi-driver system having a low frequency driver and a high frequency driver, and the system has a first driver and a second driver and a filter, the first driver driving the low frequency driver and the second driver driving the high frequency driver, the filter divides the input audio into corresponding frequency bands that are transmitted to the low-frequency driver and the high-frequency driver. The filter can be provided as part of the control unit coupled to the component, or it can be closely coupled to the speaker.

In an embodiment, the distributed amplification system is implemented as part of an audio system configured to work with a sound format and processing system, which may be referred to as a "spatial audio system", a "hybrid audio system" Or "Adaptive Audio System". Such systems are based on audio formats and rendering techniques to allow enhanced audience immersion, increased artistic control, and system flexibility and scalability. An overall adaptive audio system generally includes an audio encoding, distribution, and decoding system configured to generate one or more bitstreams containing both conventional channel-based audio elements and audio object-encoded elements (object-based audio) . Such a combined approach provides greater coding efficiency and rendering flexibility than either channel-based or object-based approaches alone.

An audio object can be thought of as a group of sound elements that can be perceived as originating from a particular one or more physically located elements in the listening environment. Such objects may be static (ie, stationary) or dynamic (ie, moving). Audio objects are controlled by metadata that define the position of a sound at a given point in time, along with other functionality. When objects are played back, they are rendered according to positional metadata using the speakers present, and not necessarily output to predefined physical channels. Tracks in a session can be audio objects, and the standard pan data is analogous to position metadata. In this way, content placed on a monitor or display used in an audio processing or production system can be panned in effectively the same manner as channel-based content, but content placed in surround can be rendered to a single speakers, if desired. In this case, a suitable Graphical User Interface (GUI) for rendering control information for the audio processing system and a user interface to the display is provided as part of the system. While the use of audio objects provides desired control over discrete effects, other aspects of audio tracks work effectively in a channel-based environment. For example, many ambient effects or reverbs actually benefit from being fed to speaker arrays. Although these can be viewed as objects with a width sufficient to fill the array, it is beneficial to retain some channel-based functionality.

An example implementation of an adaptive audio system and associated audio formats is platform. Such systems incorporate a height (up/down) dimension, which can be implemented as a 9.1 surround system or similar surround sound configuration. Such a height-based system may be designated by different terms, where height speakers are distinguished from floor speakers by an xyz designation, where x is the number of floor speakers, y is the number of subwoofers, and z is the number of height speakers. Therefore, a 9.1 system can be called a 5.1.4 system including a 5.1 system with 4 height speakers.

Figure 6 shows speaker placement in a current surround system (eg 5.1.4 surround) that provides height speakers for playback of height channels. The loudspeaker configuration of system 600 consists of five loudspeakers 602 in the floor plane and four loudspeakers 604 in the height plane. In general, these speakers can be used to produce more or less exactly the sound that is designed to originate anywhere in the room. Pre-defined loudspeaker configurations, such as those shown in Figure 6, may naturally limit the ability to accurately represent the location of a given sound source. For example, a sound source cannot be panned farther to the left than the left speaker itself. This applies to each speaker, resulting in one-dimensional (e.g., left-right), two-dimensional (e.g., left-right and front-rear), or three-dimensional (e.g., left-right, front-rear, and top-bottom) The geometry in which the downmix is constrained. A variety of different speaker arrangements and types can be used in such speaker configurations. For example, some enhanced audio systems may use speakers in 9.1, 11.1, 13.1, 19.4 or other configurations, such as those specified by the x.y.z configuration. Speaker types may include full-range direct speakers, speaker arrays, surround speakers, subwoofers, tweeters, and other types of speakers. In an embodiment, as shown in Figures 1-4, each of these speakers has an associated speaker unit coupled to the control unit by a two conductor bus that transmits both power and digital audio. The adaptive audio content is mapped in the control unit (such as via an adaptive audio interface) and the IP backbone employed by the system maps the audio to the appropriate speakers.

Aspects of an audio environment described herein represent the playback of audio or audio/visual content through appropriate speakers and playback devices, and may represent any environment in which a listener is experiencing playback of captured content, such as a theater, concert hall, Amphitheater, home theater or room at home, conference room, listening booth, car, game console, public address system (public address system) or any other playback environment. Although embodiments have been described primarily with respect to examples and implementations in commercial theater or home theater environments where spatial audio content is associated with movie or television content, it should be noted that embodiments may also be implemented in other consumer-based systems, Such as gaming, screening systems, and any other monitor-based A/V systems. Spatial audio content, including object-based audio and channel-based audio, can be used in conjunction with any related content (associated audio, video, graphics, etc.), or it can constitute stand-alone audio content.

Powered amplifiers have long been a popular approach within the pro audio segment, but there is nothing to do with including a high powered AC-DC supply in each amplifier and putting line-level audio inputs The cost associated with the signaling pull to each loudspeaker location may be prohibitive. However, using a distributed power design, multi-cabinet configurations can be paralleled together, driven with mains powered amplifiers, and each speaker element provided with a unique digital audio stream. Another interesting part is the 70V distribution system, which is used in a wide variety of applications such as schools, hospitals, airports, shopping malls, office buildings, etc. These systems use step-up and step-down transformers for each of the loudspeaker positions to manage the payload and power taps as needed. Unfortunately, these transformers are expensive, limit power capabilities, and do not allow full-band audio fidelity. By using a distributed amplification system, each loudspeaker can be provided with full-band digital audio, higher power delivery and possibly reduced cost.

The range of applications for distributed amplification systems is therefore beneficial for almost any application for professional, home and large scale distributed audio applications or minimizing cabling and power supply needs. Embodiments allow the use of a standard audio amplifier as a power supply and standard two-conductor speaker wire as a bus on which many individual speakers can be daisy-chained into a configuration that can be set to play different audio content through each speaker . The system sends both power and a digital audio stream on this line to a small speaker unit associated with each speaker, which restores the power and decodes and transmits the appropriate digital signal. Retrofitting existing systems is advantageous because theaters and other environments can often use existing cabling and installation infrastructure (eg, same audio amplifiers, existing cabling, existing speaker layout, etc.).

With respect to the foregoing description and appended claims, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the words "comprises," "comprises," etc. are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is , interpreted in the sense of "including but not limited to". Statements using the singular of words shall be deemed to include the plural and vice versa. Additionally, the words "herein," "hereafter," "above," "below," and words of similar import refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. When the word "or" is used in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following constructions of that word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list, and Any combination of items in this list.

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment," "some embodiments," or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in the disclosed system(s) and method(s) in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this description may or may not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

Although one or more implementations have been described with respect to particular embodiments by way of example, it is to be understood that the one or more implementations are not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, use of these terms is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements that will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to cover all such modifications and similar arrangements.

Claims (34)

1. a kind of system, including：

Power supply, the output power of power supply；

First digital data transceiver, first digital data transceiver by Multi-acoustic channel digital data output to the power supply and The output of the power supply；

Uniform transmission bus, the uniform transmission bus by the output coupling of the power supply to multiple loudspeakers, and by power With Multi-acoustic channel digital data transfer to the multiple loudspeaker；And

Additional character data collector, the additional character data collector are related to each loudspeaker in multiple loudspeakers Connection, and it is configured as recovering power to drive associated loudspeaker and by the appropriate sound channel of the Multi-acoustic channel digital data It is transferred to associated loudspeaker.

2. system according to claim 1, wherein, the input of first digital transceiver includes Multi-acoustic channel digital sound Frequently, and first digital transceiver is configured as making power and multi-sound channel digital audio synchronization and adjusts power and more sound Road DAB is to ensure optimal sequential, amplitude and the phase characteristic of the data by the uniform transmission bus transfer.

3. system according to claim 1, wherein, the input of first digital transceiver includes analogue audio frequency, and Wherein, first digital transceiver includes the analog-to-digital that the analogue audio frequency is converted to the Multi-acoustic channel digital data Component.

4. according to the system any one of claim 1-3, wherein, the uniform transmission bus includes having 10 to 20 rule Single more conductor cables of two or three conductors of lattice speaker wire, and wherein, include three in more conductor cables In the case of individual conductor, the 3rd conductor includes ground connection.

5. according to the system any one of claim 1-4, wherein, each additional character data collector includes：

Electric recovery circuit, the electric recovery circuit include the impedance speakers driver for being coupled to electric capacity storage element； And

Special digital data collector, the special digital data collector are configured as operating under transmission or reception pattern, And it is configured as decoding the channel allocation provided in the Multi-acoustic channel digital data and the sound channel based on decoding Appropriate Multi-acoustic channel digital data are modulated to associated loudspeaker by distribution so that different source contents can be by described more Each loudspeaker playback in individual loudspeaker.

6. according to the system any one of claim 2-5, wherein, power is coded in 0 (DC) to the work(between 20kHz In rate signal voiced band, and the digital audio-frequency data is coded in the Digital Audio Transmission band between 1MHz to 100MHz It is interior.

7. according to the system any one of claim 1-6, wherein, the power supply and each additional character data collector Coupled using standardized power line communication interface, by the uniform transmission bus, the standardized power line communication interface bag Include at least one in IEEE 1901 or G.hn agreements.

8. according to the system any one of claim 1-7, wherein, the Multi-acoustic channel digital data use Internet protocol (IP) transmit and be transmitted, and wherein, first digital data transceiver includes receiving IP-based streaming audio number According to IP interfaces, and wherein, the IP-based streaming voice data includes having the sound based on sound channel at least in part The adaptive audio content of frequency and object-based audio.

9. system according to claim 8, wherein, it is at least some including surround sound audio system in the multiple loudspeaker System, the surround sound audio system are assigned to the audio signal of discrete channels according to the playback of surround sound form.

10. system according to claim 9, wherein, at least some in the multiple loudspeaker raise including multiple driver Sound device, and the additional character data collector associated with the multiple driver loudspeaker includes double amplification circuit, it is described double The Part I of appropriate sound channel is transferred to the first driver of the multiple driver loudspeaker by amplifying circuit, and by appropriate sound The Part II in road is transferred to the second driver of the multiple driver loudspeaker.

11. system according to claim 1, wherein, the power supply includes standard audio amplifiers, and wherein, it is described Uniform transmission bus include it is following in one：Medium format, two conductor speaker wires or three conductors including earth conductor AC power cables.

12. system according to claim 1, wherein, each additional character data collector by one in following with Respective speaker is associated：Direct close-coupled, built-in circuit or short pass transmission link.

13. a kind of method, including：

The Multi-acoustic channel digital data to be transmitted in the first transmission belt and the power to be transmitted in the second transmission belt are compiled Code；

By single transfer bus by numerical data and power transmission to multiple loudspeakers；And

At each loudspeaker in the multiple loudspeaker, recover power to drive the loudspeaker, and data are carried out Decode to pass through the particular channel that the loudspeaker plays back the Multi-acoustic channel digital data so that different source contents pass through described Each loudspeaker playback in multiple loudspeakers.

14. according to the method for claim 13, wherein, the Multi-acoustic channel digital data include digital audio content, described Method further comprises making power and DAB synchronization and adjusts power and DAB to ensure by the single biography Optimal sequential, amplitude and the phase characteristic of the data of defeated bus transfer.

15. according to the method for claim 14, wherein, first transmission belt includes 0 (DC) to the power between 20kHz Signal voiced band, and second transmission belt includes the Digital Audio Transmission band between 1MHz to 100MHz.

16. according to the method any one of claim 13 and 14, further comprise：

The DAB is transmitted using Internet protocol (IP) communication system, by the single transfer bus；And

Using standardized power line communication interface, by the single transfer bus come transimission power, the standardized power line Communication interface is including at least one in IEEE 1901 or G.hn agreements.

17. according to the method for claim 16, wherein, the DAB includes having based on sound channel at least in part The adaptive audio content of audio and object-based audio, and wherein, in the multiple loudspeaker it is at least some including Surround sound audio system, the surround sound audio system is according to surround sound form, live sound application form and distributed tones One in frequency form plays back the audio for being assigned to discrete channels.

18. according to the method any one of claim 14-17, further comprise：

Receive analog audio data；And

The analog audio data is converted to by the digital audio content by analog-to-digital component.

19. according to the method any one of claim 13-18, wherein, the single transfer bus includes having 10 to arrive More conductor cables of two or three conductors of 20 specification speaker wires, and wherein, include three in more conductor cables In the case of individual conductor, the 3rd conductor includes ground connection.

20. a kind of device, including：

Power supply, the power supply output are coded in the power in the first transmission belt of transmission spectrum；And

First digital data transceiver, first digital data transceiver will be coded in the second transmission belt of the transmission spectrum To the output of the power supply and the power supply, the output of the power supply is configured to coupled to interior Multi-acoustic channel digital data output Power and Multi-acoustic channel digital data are supplied to the uniform transmission bus of multiple loudspeakers, wherein, each loudspeaker with it is corresponding Digital data receiver is associated, and the digital data receiver is configured as recovering power to drive associated loudspeaker simultaneously And by the appropriate channel transfer of the Multi-acoustic channel digital data to associated loudspeaker.

21. device according to claim 20, wherein, the input of the first digital transceiver includes multi-sound channel digital audio, And the first digital transceiver is configured as making power and multi-sound channel digital audio synchronization and adjusts power and Multi-acoustic channel digital Audio is to ensure optimal sequential, amplitude and the phase characteristic of the data by the uniform transmission bus transfer.

22. device according to claim 21, wherein, first transmission belt includes 0 (DC) to the power between 20kHz Signal voiced band, and second transmission belt includes the Digital Audio Transmission band between 1MHz to 100MHz.

23. the device according to any one of claim 20 to 22, wherein, the uniform transmission bus includes having 10 to arrive Single more conductor cables of two or three conductors of 20 specification speaker wires, and wherein, in more conductor cable bags In the case of including three conductors, the 3rd conductor includes ground connection.

24. the device according to any one of claim 21 to 23, wherein, the DAB includes tool at least in part There is the adaptive audio content of audio and object-based audio based on sound channel, and wherein, in the multiple loudspeaker It is at least some that discrete sound is assigned to according to the playback of surround sound form including surround sound audio system, the surround sound audio system The audio in road.

25. a kind of device, including：

The component associated with respective speaker is provided；

Electric recovery circuit, the electric recovery circuit are configured as reception and are encoded passing in the first frequency band and by unified The power of defeated bus transfer, and including being coupled to the impedance speakers driver of electric capacity storage element, the uniform transmission Bus passes through both identical conductor propagation audio and data；And

Special digital data collector, the special digital data collector can switch between sending mode and reception pattern, And it is configured as receiving Multi-acoustic channel digital data digital and the channel allocation to providing in the Multi-acoustic channel digital data Decoded and appropriate Multi-acoustic channel digital data are modulated to by respective speaker based on the channel allocation of decoding so that be different Source contents can be played back by each loudspeaker of the loudspeaker array including the respective speaker.

26. device according to claim 25, wherein, the component includes close-coupled connection, built-in circuit and short One in transmission link.

27. according to the device any one of claim 25 and 26, further comprise that power supply and the first numerical data are received The interface of device, the output power of power supply are sent out, first digital data transceiver is exported by the uniform transmission bus.

28. the device according to any one of claim 25 to 27, wherein, the Multi-acoustic channel digital data include at least portion Ground is divided to include with audio and the DAB of the adaptive audio content of object-based audio based on sound channel, and its In, it is at least some including surround sound audio system, the surround sound audio system root in the loudspeaker of the loudspeaker array The audio of discrete channels is assigned to according to the playback of surround sound form.

29. the device according to any one of claim 25 to 28, wherein, the first band arrives 20kHz including 0 (DC) Between power signal voiced band, and the second band include 1MHz to 100MHz between Digital Audio Transmission band.

30. device according to claim 25, wherein, the loudspeaker can include driving with Low frequency drivers and high frequency The multiple driver system of dynamic device, and the component has the first driver and the second driver and a wave filter, described first Driver drives the Low frequency drivers, and second driver drives the high frequency driver, and the wave filter will input sound Frequency, which is divided into, to be transferred in the frequency band of the Low frequency drivers and high frequency driver.

31. device according to claim 30, wherein, the wave filter is as the control unit for being coupled to the component A part and provide.

32. a kind of transfer bus, including：

To the interface for the transceiver for providing power and digital audio-frequency data；

A pair of conductors in sheath, wherein, the conductor by power and digital audio-frequency data simultaneous transmission to multiple loudspeakers, Wherein, the digital audio-frequency data includes the adaptive audio with the audio component individually to be played back on different loudspeakers Content；And

Multiple taps, each tap are provided to each in the multiple loudspeaker to be linked together by the pair of conductor The independent link of loudspeaker.

33. transfer bus according to claim 32, wherein, power is coded in first band, and the numeral Voice data is coded in second band.

34. transfer bus according to claim 34, wherein, each loudspeaker and loudspeaker in the multiple loudspeaker Unit is associated, and the loudspeaker unit recovers power, and the audio is decoded to be driven with appropriate audio signal Move associated loudspeaker.